However you invest, it's a great time to shop for an online broker. Firms have been trimming commissions, expanding their online tools, offering more transaction-free mutual funds and enhancing their mobile apps. Eager to win your business, brokers are also offering signing bonuses, such as a $1,000 bounty from
To help you choose the best broker, we surveyed seven major firms: Ally Invest (which acquired TradeKing last year),
And the winners are...
In a tight contest, Fidelity and
Of course, the right broker for you may not be one of our top-ranked firms. If you like to trade stocks, particularly on a mobile device,
Vanguard falls behind the leaders in almost every category, losing points for its bare-bones website, its basic mobile app and its lack of stock research. But these drawbacks don't make the fund giant a bad choice for investors who buy and hold for the long term. Vanguard brokerage customers don't pay a penny in commissions to access the firm's low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, many of which can save you money over the long run compared with funds that have higher ongoing fees.
For a deeper dive, check out the results in each category below. To find the best broker for you, see the box on the facing page, where we name the winners for several types of investors.
Commissions and fees
Fidelity launched a price war early this year when it cut its stock commissions to $4.95 per trade. The move prompted Schwab to match Fidelity's rate, and it led other brokers, such as
Merrill's base rate of $6.95 for stock trades looks pricey at first glance. But customers who have at least $50,000 in combined balances at the brokerage firm and Bank of America (Merrill's parent) qualify for up to 30 free trades a month, and they also receive such perks as a cash-back bonus on credit cards and discounted rates on auto loans. Stash at least $100,000 with Merrill and
At Schwab, customers with a gripe can get a refund on all fees, if they ask. The firm recently expanded its "satisfaction guarantee" to cover all commissions, advisory fees and other charges. "If a client does any business with us and isn't satisfied, we'll refund the fees, no questions asked," says
Unlike the other brokers, Vanguard's commission structure doesn't encourage trading. The firm charges $7 for the first 25 stock trades per calendar year and a steep $20 after that. Transaction-fee funds also cost $20 per trade. But customers can load up on all Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs without having to pay sales charges--a good deal if you invest mainly in low-cost index funds. One small nuisance: Customers must hold at least $10,000 in Vanguard mutual funds or ETFs or sign up for electronic statements to avoid a $20 annual account "service" fee.
Investment choices
Aside from Ally, every broker surveyed here offers thousands of funds without a transaction fee. Schwab tops the list with 3,976 no-transaction-fee funds, all with minimum investments below $50,000 (our cutoff to be included in this category). Schwab also offers 231 commission-free ETFs, the most of any broker in our survey. The lineup includes many low-fee index funds sponsored by Schwab, along with ETFs from such firms as Guggenheim, PowerShares,
Fidelity ranks competitively, too, with 3,532 NTF mutual funds and 85 commission-free ETFs, including dozens of iShares ETFs with low-to-minuscule expense ratios. Investors at Merrill have fewer choices in NTF funds (2,251). Vanguard also looks weak in this arena, with just 2,531 NTF mutual funds, although that includes all of the firm's proprietary funds (whose expense ratios undercut those of most of its rivals). The firm also offers its 70 Vanguard ETFs without commissions.
Beyond funds and ETFs, each broker sells individual bonds, including Treasuries, municipal and corporate issues, and high-yield "junk" bonds. TD's lineup of more than 28,000 corporate IOUs exceeds the others' offerings. But if you want bonds issued by giants such as
One note: Bonds don't trade on an open market, and prices tend to be opaque. Most brokerage firms charge commissions of $1 per bond with a $1,000 face value, passing on the same prices that they get when they acquire the bonds from other dealers (which include the dealer's markup). Merrill and TD, however, sell bonds on a "net yield" basis, with the broker's profit built into the prices. Some studies have found that customers tend to pay more for these net-yield bonds than they would with a flat-rate commission.
Research
With commissions at rock bottom these days, a big distinguishing feature among brokers is the breadth and quality of research they furnish. Every firm provides snapshot reports on stocks, including basic data such as revenues and earnings. Most brokers also offer reports on bonds from ratings agencies, such as
Scoring best in this category, largely for its stock research, is
Schwab,
For avid stock traders, though,
The other three outfits--Ally, Fidelity and Vanguard--don't score well in this area. At Ally,
Tools
Online calculators and tools can help you track your portfolio's performance, screen for funds, plan for retirement and generally keep tabs on your financial life. Some sites get an edge in this category by supplying handier and more comprehensive tools than others.
Merrill earns the highest score, with Fidelity coming in a close second. Along with top-notch screeners for funds and stocks, Merrill provides Morningstar's powerful Portfolio X-Ray, a tool that can dig into your fund holdings and individual stocks and, among other things, analyze areas of overlap and market factors influencing your returns. Most of these tools are easy to find, too, by using the drop-down menus on Merrill's home page.
Finding tools on Fidelity's site takes more poking around. But Fidelity's portfolio-analysis tools are robust and easy to use, and you can configure them in multiple ways (to track your performance against not just traditional indexes but also blended market benchmarks, for example). Fidelity also provides top-notch budgeting and retirement-planning tools. And you can see a comprehensive picture of all your finances, including accounts held at other firms, your mortgage balance and your home's market value.
As you might expect,
Vanguard's tools focus on nuts-and-bolts planning--things such as setting up an investment mix and creating a retirement plan. Customers won't find targeted stock screens, though, and can only import outside account data if they're customers of Vanguard's advisory service. Ally furnishes a few stock screeners but doesn't offer retirement-planning tools. Ally says it plans to roll out more screeners and tools over the next year.
Ease of use
Finding what you want on a broker's site can feel like wandering through a maze of charts, data and jargon-filled reports.
Overall, Fidelity's relatively intuitive site helps you avoid information overload. The firm recently redesigned its ETF research center, added voice recognition at its call centers to identify customers without a passcode, and enhanced its "quick quote bar" to facilitate trading. Fidelity also wins points for its 2% cash-back
With access to Bank of America offices, Merrill provides the most branches (4,600) for its clients to meet with a financial adviser. Customers can easily transfer money to Bank of America with one-click convenience, and they can see all of their savings, checking and investment accounts at both the bank's and the brokerage's websites. Schwab also blends brokerage and banking services well, proÂÂviding high-yield checking and other bank services, as well as mortgages through Quicken Loans. One drawback: Schwab's
Also competitive in this category is
Because they are purely online brokers, Ally and Vanguard aren't as convenient, losing points for their lack of physical branches. Ally's cash-back
Mobile apps
Brokers' apps are beÂÂcoming handy enough to allow customers to conduct almost all of their business via a mobile device, whether it's buying stocks, trading options or depositing checks.
Merrill's app includes several calculators and tools for college savings and retirement planning, along with research from
Apps from Ally and TD fall short in one big area: They lack the ability to trade mutual funds. Vanguard's app doesn't let you buy and sell non-Vanguard funds--also a drawback. Customers can deposit checks, but they can't transfer money on Vanguard's app, limiting its usefulness.
Investment advice
Brokers are so keen to handle your money that most will set up a financial plan and review your portfolio at no charge. They can also manage your investments, for a fee, or help with things such as estate plans and insurance.
Taking the lead in this category are Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard. Fidelity and Schwab score well for a wide array of planning services and managed accounts, such as a Fidelity portfolio dedicated to indiÂÂvidual municipal bonds and one at Schwab focused on dividend-growth stocks. At Fidelity, fees for separately managed accounts start at 1.20% annually but are reduced by "credits" for some of the costs in the portfolios' fund holdings. For clients with at least $25,000, Schwab offers tailored portfolios of ETFs, with an annual advisory fee of 0.28% (capped at $900 per quarter for high-value accounts).
Vanguard customers can get into a managed account with a $50,000 minimum investment. Annual fees are 0.30%, no matter what investing strategy you choose. These accounts hold Vanguard ETFs and the Admiral share class of its mutual funds, which charge some of the lowest expense ratios in the industry.
If you don't have much to invest, you could opt for a "robo" service, which should cost less and may be just as effective as brokers' higher-fee accounts. These portfolios of ETFs and mutual funds are automatically adjusted to maintain a fixed mix of stocks and bonds. Investment minimums are as low as $2,500 at Ally but typically start at $5,000, with annual management fees of 0.30% at Ally,
Schwab offers a similar service, charging a management fee of 0.28% for a personalized portfolio of ETFs, constructed with the help of a client's dedicated financial adviser. Customers can also opt for Schwab's Intelligent Portfolios--baskets of ETFs that the firm selects and rebalances without charging a separate management fee. The downside of these portfolios is that even the most aggressive ones--with hefty amounts of stock--hold 6.9% in cash (and much more in conservative portfolios). Maintaining that much cash can drag down returns in a strong market.
At the opposite end of the cost spectrum is Merrill, which charges a 0.45% management fee for its robo service. Merrill says that the accounts aren't just based on algorithms, however, and that customers "have access to a human being whenever they need help."
A Broker for Every Investor
Best for mutual fund investors: Schwab. Offering 3,976 funds with no loads, no transaction fees and investment minimums of less than $50,000, Schwab edges the competition. Need some help? Pick from Schwab's "select list" of 168 no-transaction-fee mutual funds, a roster that includes many solid performers with reasonable expense ratios.
Best for ETF investors: Schwab. The firm's 231 commission-free exchange-traded funds put it on top in this category. Many of these ETFs have wafer-thin expense ratios, enabling investors to build a low-cost portfolio without paying a penny in trading commissions.
Best for active stock traders:
Best for investors on the go:
Best for managing cash: Fidelity. Customers can easily pay bills and see a complete picture of their financial life on Fidelity's site, including mortgages and balances in non-Fidelity accounts. Fidelity's Visa Rewards card, which pays back 2% on all purchases, beats the cash rebates from cards of most other brokers.
Best for retirees: Vanguard. Low fees throughout its lineup of mutual funds and ETFs make Vanguard a top choice for retirees (or anyone trying to save a few bucks). The firm charges 0.30% a year to manage accounts, one of the lowest fees in the business.
Daren Fonda is an associate editor at Kiplinger.